Microsoft last in security test

Security seems to be Microsoft's Achille's Heel. Despite Microsoft Chief Bill Gates claiming that Vista is "dramatically more secure" than other operating systems," it's much-talked about Windows Live OneCare has been ranked at the bottom in a group of 17 anti-virus programmes.

The test which pitted Windows Live OneCare, Microsoft's consumer security suite that Microsoft launched last year, against thousands of worms, viruses, Trojan horses and other malware, was conducted by Austrian antivirus researcher, Andreas Cleminti.

The AV Comparatives website, which is maintained by Andreas Cleminti, posts quarterly tests that pictches the top anti-virus products against a dynamic list of nearly half a million individual pieces of malware.

At the top position, according to Cleminti's tests, was G Data Security's AVK (AntiVirusKit), which nailed 99.5 percent of the malicious code. It was closely followed by AEC's TrustPort AV WS at 99.4 percent, Avira's AntiVir PE Premium at 98.9 percent, MicroWorld's eScan antivirus at 97.9 percent, F-Secure's antivirus at 97.9 percent, and Kaspersky Labs' AV, which stopped 97.9 percent of the malware.

Popular products such as Symantec's Norton antivirus and McAfee's Virus Scan posted results of 96.8 percent and 91.6 percent, respectively. The last spot went to Windows Live OneCare, which took care of just 82.4 percent of the malware. Cleminti also tested the 17 products against polymorphic viruses, those which sometimes produce vast numbers of variants as they try to sneak by scanners.

Incidentally, this is not the first evaluation to give a Microsoft security programme a thumbs down. Microsoft's Windows Live OneCare security tool was one of four products that failed independent tests carried out by the Virus Bulletin. The security testing group found that Live OneCare missed far more active viruses than any other programme tested.

The anti-virus products including G-Data AntiVirusKit, McAfee VirusScan Enterprise 8.51 and Norman Virus Control 5.90 had also failed the Virus Bulletin test.